Mexico City, Day 2

After getting another good night's rest, we awoke feeling much more energetic on our last full day of this amazing trip.  We got fueled up with another delicious breakfast at the hotel, got ready, and hit the street.  But on the way down to the lobby for our first excursion of the day, we had a really unexpected experience!  In the elevator, there was a couple who were speaking to one another, and sounded like they were Americans.  Being the occasional bigmouth that I am, had to tell them the fun fact I knew, that La Presidenta of Argentina was staying in our very hotel!  So I was very surprised when the girl replied that yes, she knows, as that is her mother!  "Oh!" I said!  I was still reeling in the realization that I was in the elevator having a conversation with the daughter of the head of state of another nation, when her husband chimed in, "Well, we don't get along!"  Now that really took the cake, for cool interesting anecdote fodder for the future!  I didn't quite know what to say, so I just said what I would to anybody who told me they had family problems.  "Don't worry," I said, "it is a common problem for many between many mothers and daughters!"  And with that, the elevator doors opened, and we said goodbye.  Afterward, I thought about it, and probably he was telling me they don't get along partially because he could tell I was American, and assumed since I knew who La Presidenta was, that I knew she was a quite anti-American figure on the South American political scene, buddy-buddy with that most staunchly anti-American and anti-Freedom tyrant, Hugo Chavez himself.  So he may have been trying to let me know, he and his wife are not of the same cloth!  I can't be sure, of course, since I had very little interaction to go on, but it seems a reasonable conclusion from such a strange remark - normally elevator conversations do not go into family disputes!  So... this turned out to be one of the most interesting and notable stories from our whole trip, for me.

After we hit the street, we walked just a bit, enjoying the beautiful morning and surrounds of the hotel, and finally decided we wanted to try to hit the famous Presidential Palace and its corresponding square, and the huge Guadalupe Cathedral, which are some of Mexico City's most well known landmarks.  We also thought it would be fun to again try the local transport, and had heard (thank you Samantha Brown) that in fact, Mexico City has a pretty good subway system.  So, we found our way a few blocks over from the hotel to the closest metro station, and down we went.

We were happy to find that indeed, the subway is very efficient, and similar to others we have seen in our travels.  We had no problem making the trip to the Presidential Palace.  We had one station change and then were there, about 15 minutes total transit time before we emerged into the huge square with a throng of other visitors.

In the square, we walked to the Guadalupe Cathedral first, and were going to go in, but were wearing shorts, and forgot the old rule about not going into cathedrals in shorts, so although nobody stopped us, we just decided to snap a photo at the entrance.  Besides, it is not as though we are lacking in cathedral visits on this trip, so I think we were ok to skip an exhaustive tour of this one.  Still, it was very beautiful, both outside and as we peeked in.  We also got a few shots of glass coverings of ancient ruins that are immediately beneath the front area of the church, from Aztecs, I think.

Our next plan was to visit the Presdential Palace and see its art works, which are well known to be very beautiful and iconic of Mexico, and also free to the public.  However, when we asked, we learned that unfortunately, on the particular day we were there, a Monday, those things are closed.  But the friendly "tourist police" we were talking to told us that it was no problem because there were lots of other things we could still do, and in fact, he volunteered to take us himself.  I was a little nervous about this at first, even though he did appear to be a legitimate official, just because it seemed strange for a policeman to offer to take you on a tour.  But given the great result we found, I think this is standard operating procedure in Mexico City, and the "tourist police" sort of make their living by being guides to tourists.  They are well marked and have identification, and stand in tourist areas, walking right beside normal police.

We talked over the options with our potential new guide, and told him how much time we wanted to spend.  He offered us a very good price (quite a bit less than the hotel had mentioned we would typically pay if we had chosen to book a tour with their agency) to take us to Teotihuacan, the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon from the Aztecs, about an hour's drive south of the city.  So we decided to go for it.  We had not originally expected to be able to see any Aztec ruins, but planned to just visit the downtown areas, so this was pretty exciting to see.

The drive out to Teotihuacan was beautiful and interesting.  A long portion was through the seemingly never ending cityscape, very different from American cities, and in many ways, like a giant huge barrio that goes on and on as far as the eye can see, over mountain after mountain.  The landscape is very mountainous, too, and the small cramped houses crush in on one another right up the sides of the mountains to the point where it is too steep to build, and then it is barren.  Our guide told us that a good business to have is taking a water truck into these neighborhoods, since most of them do not have running water.  At one point along the way, going through an especially poor neighborhood, we could see a large mass of people between the two sides of the highway, down in the underpass.  They were too far away to see what was going on, but the driver explained this is a protest, and these have been frequent in recent months, over some dispute, where the people feel oppressed on various matters.  The interesting thing was he told us they have been protesting naked, I guess to show how vulnerable they are in their dispute!  They were too far away for us to see that detail, for better or worse!  But that was a strange thing we did encounter along the way.

Finally we began to get out of the city, and the road got to areas where there weren't so many houses everywhere.  The driver told us that in recent years, there have been a number of bandit attacks in fact along that very road, but now it is very strictly policed, so is quite safe.  At any rate, I was happy when we finally got to the destination!

Before we went to the pyramids, the driver took us to a shop, where we found some really great souvenirs.  He told us that this is a legitimate shop, and better than buying from street vendors.  Of course, tour guides will always tell you this because they get a commission from these shops for bringing visitors.  But a good guide can help you get higher quality merchandise, and often save you a lot of money too, since there are shops that will overcharge drastically.  We didn't know the guide, so we were wary and not anxious to spend a lot of money, but just took our time to check out what we found.  In the end, I think he really did take us to a great shop, too.  When we arrived, the owner greeted us warmly and the driver insisted to her he wanted to be sure she shared with us history of the Agave plant, from which many useful things were obtained.  So she did give us a full explanation.  We were pretty impressed with the demonstration.  From an Agave plant, she showed us many useful things the ancient Aztecs were able to do, including take a needle and thread, paper, several types of juice and alcohol, cloth, and more.  She gave us sips of the Agave juice also, which is supposed to leave you pure for your journey up the pyramid, according to the ancient belief.  Although I don't believe that of course myself, it was still refreshing, and delicious, and fun to learn about.

After the explanation, we browsed the shop's many high quality goods, and did finally select several things to buy.  We were able to negotiate a good 15% off the original sale price, and the quality of the things we bought was excellent.  The owner gave us cokes after the sale, and also insisted we have our picture made with her and her staff, in traditional Mexican garb they gave us, and bottles of Tequila to hold up as props.  It was a lot of fun!

Then, on to the pyramids themselves!  The sun was getting high, so I bought a hat too, and put on some sunscreen.  Then, up we went.  We were amazed at first site of the pyramids, that they were so large.  I had not expected that.  But the guide told us in fact, at the base, they are as large as the pyramids at Giza.  They are step pyramids, and not quite as steep, but still, extremely impressive structures.  Also, he told us these were not used in human sacrifice as some pyramids were, but rather, in the coronation of the Emperor, which for me personally, was a happy thing to hear.  I really abhor the ancient ubiquitous practice of human sacrifice, and have never been very interested in seeing the sites related to that, although I am happy the truth of history is preserved wherever it is.  Still, I felt a little surge of extra joy realizing that I was getting to see an ancient Aztec site but was not, as I had always thought I would, having to pay homage in any way to a site associated with such a terrible practice as ritual murder.

The steps were extremely steep, and the sun was quite hot!  But the higher we climbed, the cooler and stronger the breeze became.  So the climb was really not bad.  We did get out of breath of course!  But we really enjoyed the trip up.  There were some other climbers also, and one group of New Age types all dressed in white together, going to every corner of the pyramid at every level where a break occurred in the steep stairs, and raising their hands in some kind of ritual.  They seemed to be enjoying it, and the view and ancient ruins certainly made for great inspiration, I had to agree.

When we finally got to the top, there is some thing people do where they put a dollar bill on the very top and take a picture, I guess it means good luck or something.  But we just touched the top, and didn't try to get in on that game.  We walked around and enjoyed the view, and then made our way back down, as we still had to walk the half mile up to the pyramid of the Moon, and up it, as well.  On our descent, I noticed several places where there were holes going into the interior of the pyramid, mostly very small ones between stones.  I really wished I could explore and try to find passages inside the structure.  That would be so cool!  But of course, you can't do that.  It is still under exploration by archaeologists, in fact.  In another life, perhaps...

The walk through the ancient temple village that lines the wide avenue between the pyramids was also great.  The ruins are exceptionally well preserved, and you can imagine all sorts of functions going on in their day.  We enjoyed that stroll, and when we got to the pyramid of the Moon, climbed it also.  It is closed past the first wide landing, and we were not sad either to realize we didn't have to complete the full climb there!  We took some more cool pictures looking back toward the other Sun pyramid, and then made our way back down.

Finally, we finished the tour, and went back to Mexico City.  At the end of the day, the guide offered to take us to some other places, but by then, we were ready to rest up, so we thanked him and said goodbye.  Then we headed back in, got washed up, and hit the hotel pool.  We spent probably an hour just swimming laps and enjoying the view from the top of the hotel over Mexico City.  We had the whole thing to ourselves until right at the end, when another guest showed up.  We chatted for a while, and in fact, he had also done several around the world trips, and was nearly as interested in the type of aircraft he used as me, something I do not usually encounter!  I laughed and told him most people look at me funny when I tell them I was excited to choose 747 and A380 to fly.  He said he completely understood, and also targets his routes to fly on those airplanes too.  So that was fun to meet somebody else with a passion for the big planes!

After the swim, we just chilled out for the evening, had a great dinner, watched some TV and a movie, and hit the hay, fully exhausted after a fantastic last full day of this journey.  I fell asleep with happy thoughts of a marvelous adventure, anticipation of finally being home again, and just a slight tinge of sadness that it was over.  But more than any sadness about it being over, or relief to finally be going home, I was mostly overwhelmed with amazement that such a huge undertaking had come off without a hitch of almost any kind.  I reflected, and one big thing I think I learned in this trip was that a little careful planning and preparation really can pay off, as this time, far more than I ever expected in my greatest hopes.  I think that may be my biggest "takeaway" from the experience, in fact.  Numerous times since that first hit me, I have had the same recurring thought, a realization that preparation can really make a huge difference, and make things that seem impossible be quite within our grasp.

Now just one more day to summarize and report, the final journey home, and then I figure I will reflect for a while and maybe make one more final post on this journal...

David on the morning of our last full day of the trip - notice the much more energized smile from the prior day, after a second good night's rest!

Our hotel, St. Regis, Mexico City - looks like a postcard right?!

A side street along the main avenue, pretty trees and cobblestones

Mexican flag flying over the Presidential Palace

Guadalupe Cathedral, on the square of the Presidential Palace, David filming

Me in front of Guadalupe Cathedral

Interesting cross at the cathedral, with gothic skulls

Closeup of the cathedral facade, very intricate

Peeking in the door of the cathedral, not entering since we were wearing shorts

Aztec ruins beneath the plaza in front of the cathedral

The sprawl of the city, on the drive out to the pyramids

Geraldo y Juan, los caballeros buenos!

With the owner of the shop where we bought our wares in Mexico

David at the Pyramid of the Sun

Me at the Pyramid of the Sun, with my cool new hat

 

Rock n' Roll, Teotihuacan style

Great panorama, Pyramid of the Sun on the right, Moon on the left at the end of the avenue

Trying to show how steep are the steps - here we were not even up to the pyramid yet, but crossing the high wall leading to it.

 

Another panorama with David at the base of the pyramid

What, oh what, treasures and secrets lie within the ancient crevices and passages?!

Within this crevice, at least, apparently nothing lies but shallow dirt!  I managed to get the picture to turn out with my lens sticking in the small entrance, and all I can see is a dirt chamber.  Maybe a spider or two, but no gold or secret passages it would appear.  Alas!

Quite steep as you can see!  Note the "New Agers" dressed in white on their pilgrimage, as described above.  :)  They were very nice folks, and contributed to the ambiance of the day, despite the weird rituals of dubious significance.

Are we having fun yet?!

The sky did not open up, and no one ascended (or fortunately, fell either).  However, it was a beautiful view, for sure.

At the very peak, the pyramid tapers to more of a a mound.

Proof, we did reach the very peak.  We did not press a dollar bill into the spot though, a traditional action many take.  I don't think the Aztecs had dollars of any kind, let alone modern American currency.  Allegedly, by reaching this spot alone, though, men become gods.  I did feel very close to God, though I would not want to be his peer even were it not logically impossible.  The responsibility would surely overwhelm, and I would surely disappoint!

Not that I am superstitious in any way, but just wanted to make an empirical observation to determine experimentally that I would not ascend were I to take The Stance.  Reassured, I did not.

After not ascending, I was glad to simply be a tourist again...

Beautiful view of the Pyramid of the Moon, from the steep face of the Pyramid of the Sun

The broad avenue between the pyramids, with temple infrastructure along the sides

A well preserved fresco in one of the buildings along the avenue between the pyramids

An ancient stone used for some ritual purpose, just before the pyramid of the moon

View back over temple complex toward the Pyramid of the Sun, from the highest accessible landing to tourists on the Pyramid of the Moon on this day

 

A carving, amidst an area of the complex undergoing some restoration work now

Demonstrating the effectiveness of the needle part of the Agave plant, and its size, sometimes 7-8 feet tall!

Funny picture - security at the hotel insisted we demonstrate the camera was a working device, so I did, and this was the result!  hahaha